Higher than Hope
by StarsOfYaoi
Summary: *Eventual DaveKat* They have won. LE has been defeated. They didn't expect Bec Noir to be waiting for the perfect moment to attack. They also didn't expect to end up scattered around their new world, separated and lost. Dave is hurt fighting Bec Noir, and ends up saved by the unlikeliest duo ever.
1. Prologue

**SOY:** Here, have another project of mine :3 this one was ready a while ago, but I decided to post it here only now. it's gonna be a long trip, so please buckle your belts. ^^

The main pairing for this story is DaveKat, but that will be slow in the making. More immediate pairings will be pale Dave/Eridan and mentioned Horuss/Rufioh. Other pairings are mentioned in passing.

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**Rating**: Mature for themes and later content.

**Warnings:** a bit of blood, warning for overall mature content, fights, etc.**  
**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own HomeStuck.

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**Higher than Hope**

**Prologue**

The swirling portal was bright and green, hovering a few inches from the ground, almost mesmerizing in its simplicity.

There was no ultimate building shaped like the SBURB logo, no floating universe to stare at while feeling like Gods –just a green portal, and yet it was everything they had been fighting for in the last three years.

This was it –their reward, achieved through combined effort and so many sacrifices.

For a moment, they all remained silent, glancing at each other in amazement; they had managed to keep it safe all the while, and now they were free to take a step inside it and finally cease to fight once for all.

The first to get to it was Jake. He carefully stepped around the portal, observing it from every side, squinting slightly, then his face lit up in a satisfied, happy smile, and his eyes searched for Dirk, sharing an unreadable glance with him.

"Well, I'd say something poignant, but I bet none of us truly want to hear my chit-chat," he cleared his throat then embarrassedly cracked his knuckles before moving away from the portal.

Instead of returning to Dirk's side, though, he moved to what was left of their opponent's body, and gingerly bent down, fingers lifting the discarded cloth that had once donned Lord English's frame.

The green coat was still fluttering between colours on its rim, but they looked washed out, their flashes almost ready to fade away.

Jake observed it for a while, then following a sudden impulse, he flung it above his own shoulders and snuggled into it; the cloth was far too big for his frame, the sleeves flapping large around his much thinner arms, but he didn't seem to care, simply rolling them up until his hands peeked from inside them.

"You're not going to bring that into the new universe, are you?" Jane looked slightly appalled at Jake's bad taste, and she wasn't the only one –Kanaya wrinkled her nose and politely looked away from the horrid insult to fashion.

Jake looked at her, cheeky smile her only answer, then turned again towards the portal. "See you fair adventurers on the other side," he called out.

With a curt wave and a tilt of his head, Jake stomped over to the portal and went through it, disappearing in a wavering flash of light.

Jane and Roxy shared a small glance, then looked over at Dirk; his face was carefully blank, and he didn't return their glances, his head shifting towards the beta group, gaze momentarily stopping on Dave. Their eyes, even if covered by shades, met briefly as they impassively stared at each other.

It lasted only a second, then Dirk offered Dave his fist in a symbolic brofist before turning around and following Jake into the portal, into their new world.

Roxy chuckled, offering Rose a thumbs up, then nudged Jane with her, hand curling around her elbow to tug her along, and Jane went with a small smile, feeling self-conscious as she allowed her best friend to lead her.

Neither turned around as the light washed around them.

Kanaya straightened her back, fingers seeking out Rose's hand, and when the human turned to look at her, she tilted her head towards the portal. "It might be time to test this new universe and see if we have done a good job with it," she stated.

Rose's lips twitched up in a small, warm smile, and nodded, her fingers curling around Kanaya's hand.

"I suppose you are right," she replied. Then she turned towards her other friends. "Once we're on the other side, we will be able to determine what kind of situation we're in for, as my seer powers don't quite work in a universe we're not part of".

Jade bounced over and hugged her, giggling happily, and Rose hugged her back with one arm before tracing the steps of the Alpha kids.

The couple disappeared into the portal, and Aradia followed them happily, bouncing a bit as her Godtier wings faded back into her body. Sollux seemed to hesitate as she offered him one hand, so she huffed, winked at him and stepped through, her lips mouthing a friendly encouragement for him to follow.

Sollux grimaced, shrugging when Karkat turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"I jutht don't think it'th a good idea to ruthh into thingth," he muttered, looking at the ground.

Karkat safely decided it would be better not to comment, and he stepped towards the portal, fighting the uneasiness welling up inside him.

Much like Jake had done, he circled the bright portal once, looking at it from every side. It looked pretty legit, but he still wasn't convinced, his paranoia getting the best of him.

Gamzee had been standing a bit away from the others, body still covered in bloody clothes he hadn't bothered to change and eyes lost in the distance, but when he noticed Karkat moving, he seemed to blink back to attention. He hesitantly made his way forwards, not noticing that Terezi had done the same until they were both in front of the portal, in front of Karkat.

Dave watched from the side, feeling eerily alone but not allowing the feeling to show on his face, refusing to let himself be dragged in troll matters. His fingers twitched slightly as he fought the urge to step close to the three, but he stood his ground.

Terezi licked her lips and glanced at Karkat, smiling at him –a small, somewhat sad smile– then turned around, sending a bigger grin towards Dave before her tongue rolled out of her mouth, tasting the air around the portal.

It tasted electric and minty.

Her steps didn't waver as she walked past the other trolls and into the portal.

Gamzee observed her go, eyes sharp, then glanced back at Karkat. His expression, with smudged paint and scratched prominent across his face, looked lost as he slowly, hesitantly, reached out for Karkat with one hand.

Karkat refused to look at him, lips trembling in the effort not to give in and face his wretched moirail, and Gamzee's hand fell limp.

He followed Terezi with a defeated slump, his clubs abandoned on the ground next to the portal.

When he disappeared within the flash, Karkat's shoulders fell, and he studiously refused to look at the others still there, though his eyes flickered briefly towards Dave, who closed his eyes behind his shades and refused to let himself think.

John's lips twitched into a small, confused frown, then he moved towards Karkat, poked him into the arm, and smiled cheekily at him, then at Jade, Dave and Sollux. "Come on, it's getting boring here, let's have a look at our reward!"

He playfully shoved Karkat away from the portal and promptly went through.

With only four of them left, Dave finally decided to move, and casually stepped towards the portal, watching as Karkat stared at him, waiting.

"Girls first," Dave stated, pointing at the portal.

Karkat grunted but moved away, freeing the path for Jade as she moved closer. "Yes, what the moron said," he muttered, looking to the side.

"I was actually talking about you, Karkat," Dave commented.

The troll growled at him, eyes narrowed in anger, and Jade giggled at them, dog ears twitching on top of her head.

"Shove it where it hurts," Karkat muttered, glaring at Sollux and daring him to comment.

Still the comment seemed to have a positive effect on him, and the tense air seemed to dissipate.

Jade stepped towards the portal, grinning.

Bec Noir chose that moment to attack.

Red tendrils flared to life everywhere around them, surrounding the four and separating them from the portal, and Dave was the first to locate where the attack was coming from, the incoming figure hovering above them.

Bec Noir wasn't stupid. He could recognise a lost battle when he faced one, and going against Lord English would obviously result into a loss on his part. So, he'd kept his profile low, waiting for someone else to get rid of the threat, completely forgotten by the kids he hated, but now that their main opponent had bitten the dust, the carapace had reappeared to exact his revenge.

He'd waited a bit too long, allowing a few of the kids to go through that portal, but he wasn't in a hurry –he would get rid of the ones still there, then chase the remaining ones in the new universe, just like he'd done before.

And then he would enjoy destroying that, too.

Sword ready in hand, Bec Noir rushed downwards, directing the red miles to surround his enemies to prevent their escape.

With a small gasp, Jade lifted both hands and pointed them at some of the red tendrils, but Dave grabbed her wrist and tugged her harshly away from them.

"Don't touch those," he warned, fingers tightly clenched around the handle of his sword. "It seems we've got one last unfinished business left before we can go".

Sollux stumbled towards them, momentarily forgetting that he still didn't have any psionic power left, and Karkat placed himself in front of his friend, sickles ready to strike.

"Can you get to the portal?" he called out, throat underlining his words with a low growl.

"I am… no, not at thith point," Sollux glanced back at the red strands keeping the portal blocked, and looked down at his hands, feeling utterly useless.

Part of him suddenly missed his psionics, even with all the hassle and death cries that came with them.

"Don't you dare fucking die on me, grubmunching idiot, or I'm not leaving this shitty place until I have your rotten soul following me," Karkat called out, then shoved one of his sickles into Sollux's hands.

"KK, I–"

"Shut up and fucking protect your useless self".

Sollux's lips turned into a thin line but he nodded. Sickles weren't his weapon of choice –to be honest, he didn't have a weapon of choice, he'd only ever used his own powers to fight– but he would make do.

Dave sprung to action the moment Bec Noir was at a striking distance, their swords clashing together once, then twice before the human had to back away, leaving enough space for Karkat to join in, sickles flashing towards the carapace's neck.

Bec Noir blocked the attack and Karkat had to jump to avoid an incoming wave of red, momentarily busy trying not to have the red miles touch any part of his body.

Dave attacked again, eyes narrowed as he tried to read his opponent's moves as they fought, and saw Jade cover his back with her powers, opening smaller portals and sending the red miles flying away.

Wave after wave of red zoomed in on them, attacking from every side, and as they were tired from their fight with LE already, their movements lacked energy.

Jade shrunk an incoming strand to the size of a sewing thread, then gasped out in pain when it rushed past her, barely grazing her arm and leaving behind a red trail on her skin.

"I can't shrink them or I won't be able to control them!" she cried out, trying to concentrate.

To work her powers she had to take time, but the miles were not allowing her much of that.

Dave flicked one finger back, focusing so that he could send some of his power ticking towards the wall of red hovering around them, but Bec Noir pressed on, disrupting his concentration and making him stumble backwards.

Karkat jumped forwards again, and this time Sollux followed him, brandishing the sickle unsteadily as they both forced Bec Noir away from Dave.

He didn't waste time thanking them and turned around, arms flashing to his sides, calling up his time-tables to aid himself, and spun them, sending a wave of time ticking towards the red waves.

The incoming streams of red faltered and seemed to slow down, and he gritted his teeth, forcing more power out.

Jade smiled at him, and closed her eyes.

Window-sized portals opened up around the red miles, teleporting the as far from them as Jade could make them go.

Dave flung himself back at Bec Noir, blocking an attack meant for Sollux and engaging the carapace to a one-on-one fight again.

"Go, now!" he called out.

Sollux hesitated –he didn't want to leave them there with no backup, not if that meant it would be just them against that creature– but he reasoned that he would just get himself hurt, so he dashed towards the portal, only turning for a moment to launch the sickle back at Karkat.

"Get the fuck into thith thing alive, or I'll be the one theeking your loud thoulth back from hell!" he yelled.

Then he was gone, the portal flashing to signal he'd been taken to the next universe.

Karkat straightened his back, eyes set on the enemy.

"How the fuck do we stop that shit from coming with us," he asked.

Jade ran to his side, panting slightly, and they watched for a moment as Dave held his own against Bec Noir.

"I think…" Jade's eyes narrowed. "We need to take away his ring. Without it, he'll go back to his normal self. Then, we can take the ring with us, since it doesn't work on humans… or trolls," she added hastily. "And I think I can…" she made a complicated motion with her hands, and scrambled for words. "I can bring the portal itself with us," she ended up saying. "So he won't follow us either".

Karkat groaned. "What a fucking pain in the ass, it's just my luck we're the only ones left to fend that fucker off".

"Come on, if we compare him to Lord English, he's nothing but a wimpy dog!" Jade tried to reassure him, smiling, but her smile's edge was tense.

They were tired, and they needed a plan.

"Dave!" she called out.

Dave's shoulder twitched, but otherwise he didn't show any outer sign that he'd heard her, still keeping on slashing at Bec Noir.

"Bring him down!" she called out again.

While Dave could float thanks to his Godtier powers, and Jade herself could do that too, Karkat couldn't, and they needed all the advantages they could manage.

Dave spun in the air and flew around Bec Noir, hands dropping his sword for a moment to call forth his time-tables. He only had a split second and it was rather dangerous, but he needed all the power he could.

A giant gear surrounded Bec Noir, slowing him down, then forcing him into a standstill. Dave felt the strain in the back of his mind, the small waver that came with using too much of his power, but ignored it, and pushed his body forwards, hitting Bec Noir and sending him plummeting down.

The spell broke while the carapace was still falling, and he halted himself, but had no time to go back up because Karkat was on him instantly, and a few seconds later, Dave joined him again.

Jade concentrated her attention to his finger, but the enemy was moving too fast, swinging his arm around, and she had no way to lock on the small ring and use her powers to get it away from him.

Besides, as an object with power internal to the game, she was probably not supposed to be able to use her space powers like that.

Dave and Karkat shared a look, and both attacked at the same time from two sides, forcing Bec Noir to fly closer to Jade, who used her powers to levitate a rock, resize it, and send it flying against his head.

The rock hit the side where his arm was missing, leaving behind a trail of blood pooling down, but that only seemed to make Bec Noir even angrier at them, his pacific instincts towards her –remnant of Bec's influence inside him– vanishing in a strong wave of anger.

He charged towards her, but she opened a portal right in front of his face, sending him straight into Dave's path.

Dave swung his sword, but Bec Noir avoided it, although only by a fraction of an inch, then flew towards Karkat, snarling in anger.

It was clear his plan to kill them was going to take more time than he wanted to waste, and Bec Noir glanced towards the portal, wondering if it wouldn't be more fun to go there first and bring some destruction for them to find when they followed him, instead.

He headed towards the portal, flying past the three pests despite their attempts to block him, and dove towards the green spot, grinning to himself–

Jade hastily opened a window and teleported him away, once again towards Dave and Karkat, but Bec Noir quickly shoved them away, returning his attention to his new goal.

Jade let out a small squeal and once again shoved him away, but her fatigue was getting stronger, and it took her a couple more seconds to make a window big enough, so he got too close to the portal, almost getting inside.

"This isn't going to work," Karkat landed at her side, hand hovering on her shoulder but not touching her. "He's going to get past us if we don't take off that fucking ring".

Dave landed at Karkat's other side, panting slightly, and Karkat glared at him. "Get yourself back together, we don't need your corpse, Strider," he grunted.

He sprinted towards the enemy, effectively keeping him busy for a moment, while Dave tried to get his breath back.

"He's right, Jade, this isn't going to work. Can you teleport me in front of the portal?" Dave looked at Bec Noir, then at the portal, then glanced at Jade.

She swallowed and bit on her lower lip, ears twitching on top of her head. "Yes. Why?"

"If you teleport him, he's going to know and he can evade my attack. But if you teleport me, he won't have enough time to get out of the way, and I can try to land a blow on that doghead".

Jade didn't look convinced, but Dave gripped his sword tightly in his hand and nudged her arm.

"Come on, we have to try, and this isn't going anywhere," he coaxed her, voice slightly warmer. "It's not like you can keep on using your windows forever either".

With a deep sigh, she nodded. "Ok, ok, I can do that," she nodded. "Karkat! Stand back!"

Dave flash-stepped towards the enemy, joining back the fight while Karkat slowed down, moving back towards Jade, who quickly explained what they were about to do.

He nodded tersely, and sprung back into action, joining the other teen once more.

Bec Noir slashed at them over and over, growing angrier the more they kept avoiding his blows; still, they were growing wearier, while he'd been fully rested and itching for a good fight, so he knew he would win in the end.

With one shove, both Karkat and Dave fell away from him long enough that he could fly towards the portal again. The girl –loved master, part of him tried to say, but he stomped viciously on it– lifted her hands, but he didn't see a window appear in front of him, so Bec Noir smirked, flying faster towards the portal.

Jade concentrated; this would be their last chance, because after that, she wasn't sure she'd have enough power to keep opening portals, and the red miles would also come back at some point.

She needed to trust Dave.

She allowed her powers to build up inside her, eyes focused on Bec Noir, and how close he was getting to the portal.

Closer…

Closer still…

Now.

With a small bark slipping past her lips, Jade snapped her arms apart.

Dave felt space shift around him, the weird feeling of being shoved somewhere else, and in the blink of an eye he found himself standing between Bec Noir and the portal.

He could feel the soft pull from behind him, the heat coming from the portal, attracting him, but he ignored it.

The window closed and he had a split second to react to Bec Noir flying full speed towards him.

Gritting his teeth, he arched his arms above his head and slashed.

Bec Noir growled at the sudden appearance of the red kid right in front of him and reacted quickly, slamming his sword forwards.

The delightful feeling of metal digging into skin made him snarl in joy, shoving the hilt of his sword forwards even more, the pained gasp coming from the kid's lips a beautiful sound.

He hadn't expected the sudden, sharp pain of metal cutting through his hand from the side, though, Dave's sword penetrating through two of his fingers, cutting them neatly away from him.

He hissed and retreated his arm in a flash, but even then he could feel something was wrong–

He was growing smaller.

The arm he'd long since lost to the ring's power regrew anew, and he felt his strength diminish instantly, the wings and canine features morphing back into his old body, one he hadn't felt his own since he'd put the ring on.

Bec Noir, returned to being simply Jack Noir, stared in hatred at his finger falling away from him, donning his ring.

He made an attempt to grab it, hand slippery with blood, but the finger disappeared before he could reach it, and it didn't take much to realise who'd made a grab at it before he could.

He stumbled backwards, wary and knowing exactly well where he stood in terms of strength, and the only thing that left him enough satisfaction was to stare at the gasping wretch that was the red kid panting for air in front of the portal.

With the attention of the remaining two focused on the wounded red one, Jack Noir swallowed his fury and his useless resurfaced weakness, turned around and sprinted away.

Dave had known that he was opening himself up to be attacked –there was no other way to get the sword to cut the right way unless he sacrificed some of his defence– but he hadn't expected the pain flaring up his side.

It burnt –it took away his breath and turned his lungs into fire as pain spread quickly from his lower side where the sword had penetrated deep into his body.

He stumbled and let go of his sword, fingers lax as he couldn't apply any strength to them, but not before he saw he'd managed to cut off the finger with the ring attached to it.

Ok, that was fine, then.

Tears pooled into his eyes without his will, pain washing through him as he landed on his feet, and he doubled over and coughed, bile making its way up his throat and out from his lips, tinged red with his blood.

He was choking, and it hurt –and he hadn't expected it to hurt like that.

He tilted his head to the side, glancing at Jade and Karkat, sight swimming and turning blurry, and saw Jade clutch both hands to her chest, her lips moving soundlessly, but he couldn't hear her cries above the sound of his blood rushing through his ears.

Everything hurt, and the world dulled over, the sounds coming from afar.

Karkat was running towards him, arm stretched, and Dave didn't understand why until he realised he was falling backwards, attracted by the portal's magnetic attraction.

No time left, amusing for someone who was Knight of Time. Dave's eyes widened behind his shades.

For a split second he was hit with a strong wave of fear –he couldn't explain why, but he was suddenly frightened. He gasped and winced, forcing his body to move, but it wouldn't respond. He didn't want to go, not now, he had to–

He had to tell Karkat–

He swallowed –and even that small twitch hurt– and locked eyes with the troll, reading the panic and the anger and the pain in his face and being unable to do anything about it, because in the end it was also his fault… for not confronting him, for not telling… things sooner, for getting hurt, and now–

His lips parted to say something, anything, but he couldn't breathe…

Karkat was screaming

Jade was also running towards him

Dave closed his eyes and fell through the portal.

Light flashed behind his closed eyelids, then the feeling of being stretched, the pain in his side flaring up, then darkness.

Dave welcomed it.


	2. Chapter 01

**SOY:** the first chapter!_*–*–* _means flashback.

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**Rating**: Mature for themes and later content.

**Warnings:** none?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own HomeStuck.

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**Higher than Hope**

**Chapter 01**

*–*–*

The respiteblock was empty when Karkat entered.

He had expected Dave to be already there, so to find nobody around made him slightly upset, but he tried to hide his disappointment by clutching the book tighter against his chest.

He should have known it –the fucking human would never keep his side of the unspoken promise. Strider didn't care shit about Karkat's books, nor about spending some time (with him) being acculturated on a higher society and its romance.

Karkat shouldn't have felt so cheated, and yet a part of him was sour.

His nails dug into the cover of his book and he turned around; there was no reason to stay in this empty fucking block if there was nobody else around. There was no reason to look even more like an embarrassingly pitiful wreck by hanging around to wait for someone who wouldn't come.

There was–

"Oh, for the love of God, Vantas, get your ass in here and start your useless yapping or I swear I'll leave".

Startled out of his anger, Karkat spun around; there was a messy pile of shitty blankets in the corner, and one side was prodded open, revealing a small, constricting passage from which Dave's head was poking out.

Karkat blinked.

"What the fuck is that supposed to be," he grunted out. His bloodpusher twisted weirdly in his chest, his disappointment bleeding away into a different sort of feeling.

"What does this look like? It's a blanket fort, duh".

"It looks like shit to me," he growled out, refusing to move any closer.

"Oh, come on, Karkat, don't bitch at my fort. I spent the last hour on this beautiful concept of ironic hideout. Come on, I'll even put out a note for you if you do. 'No trespassers allowed, except Vantas' ass', is that ok?" Karkat couldn't see Dave's eyes behind his shades, but he saw his eyebrows peeking from above them, sign that the human was wiggling them.

Abhorrent sad excuse for a pitiful life form.

"I refuse to get into that contraption until I know what's inside," he resisted.

"Oh, for the love of–" Dave shifted out, pulling the top blanket to the side to reveal a small compartment inside, with pillows and even more blankets. "Here, look, there's nothing that is going to come and bite your ass in there, unless you want it," Dave smirked, pointing at the fort. "This way even if somebody comes around they won't see us. That means I'm willingly selling my soul to your storytelling abilities for the next couple of hours, no catch. That is one serious fucking sacrifice here, man. You not going to bail out on me when you were the one so bent on teaching me troll romance, right?"

"Fuck you Strider, I'm only doing that because I want you to treat Terezi like she deserves to be treated, not to do you a favour," he grunted out.

Still, he stomped towards the blanket pile and wriggled his way inside.

It was almost a tight fit, but there was enough space to be comfortable without squeezing together with the asshole, and there was even a good illumination inside, because Dave had been useful and fetched a lamp. Not to mention a bottle of water. Huh. Ok, he'd thought about everything.

"I told you that it's not like this between me n' Rezi, but it's like you never fucking listen," Dave complained, following him inside.

Dave hesitated for a moment, eyeing Karkat like he was debating something, then he moved to sit on the opposite side of the troll, keeping his distance.

Karkat grumbled something about hoping Dave wouldn't fall asleep, but didn't comment on the placement, and instead opened the book. The cover creaked as he did, sign that the copy was mint fresh, and he flipped through the first few empty pages until he found the prologue.

"Now shut the fuck up and let me educate you," he stated, clearing his throat. "If you have any questions, keep those until I finish a chapter, at the very least".

Dave nodded and wriggled a bit, obviously trying to get comfortable. "Shoot, oh great romance master," he invited with a smile.

Karkat hid a pout and started reading.

"The hidden meowbeast was gutting its prey in the luminescent glow of the pale twin moons…"

*–*–*

He dreamed.

The dreams had no consistence, and Dave moved from one to the other too swiftly to make sense of them all.

There was a dark shadow looming over him –Lord English, back to life to hurt, but no, he was dead, gone, removed from every reality, locked away– and Dave wanted to run, but his body felt sluggish, poisoned and drowning in goo.

He forced himself to run faster, away from the danger, he had no sword, why couldn't he open his eyes, he had to–

Karkat

Green and light burned his sight as he peered from behind closed eyelids, tears running down his cheeks, cold against his burning skin.

He lashed out, fear clawing at his insides, and there was darkness again.

He was tired. His body was heavy. Shadows everywhere, reaching towards him. Touching him.

Cold.

He winced, trying to curl more upon himself, but he was

unable

to

move.

Panic filled him, but with that came another wave of fatigue, and he crumbled, floating into the invisible goo, pain everywhere.

There were voices around him, voices that spoke no language he could understand, and he tried to answer, only to find his lips glued together, swollen and dry.

He screamed into his head, nails digging into the skin of his face, but that feeling was dulled over, and Dave had a second to puzzle over it in his panic before the world spun wildly around him, bleeding between darkness and bright colours.

Everything hurt –his body was burning, and again he was drowning into a sea of lava, hot and searing on his skin, tearing and melting it–

He screamed again, again and again, flailing limbs against the pain…

Then darkness again.

He resurfaced from the nothingness of his mind once more, startled away from a hazy memory of ticking clocks and turning gears and the silence surrounding him was more jarring than the noise from before.

The silence was thick, and Dave at first could hear nothing except the dull thump of his own heart. His brain felt slow and drowsy, but his attention was attracted instantly by the sound of water hitting some hard surface.

The noise wasn't coming from the inside of his head.

His throat was parched, and he couldn't open his eyes. Something soft was underneath him, but he had no strength and no will to move.

The same pain that had accompanied him in his feverish nightmares was still present, and the thread connecting reality to dream had him confused, the confines blurred. Was he dreaming? Was he awake?

Where was–

There were voices again, and he still couldn't understand them. He wanted to speak up, but as he thought that, he fell unconscious once more.

The pain was washed away, diluted in nightmares and darkness.

…–…–…

The next time Dave woke up, he was actually aware of the change, his brain clear enough to notice the shift.

He licked his lips, feeling them parched and swollen under his lips, but that didn't do much good, as his mouth was just as dry.

He swallowed, but his throat hurt at the movement.

Fuck. He felt like a wreck.

There was something covering his face –something soft pressing down over his eyes, so that Dave couldn't open them.

He was thirsty –his whole body felt heavy and dry, but the strong thirst was what had woken him up, snatching his mind from shapeless dreams.

The room around him was still silent, but he was now awake and confused questions filled his brain, wanting answers. Where was he? What had happened? He could remember pain, and blood and a green flash…

Still, the emptiness of his stomach and the thirst clutching at his insides were overriding all the questions.

Dave breathed slowly, trying to calm himself, but to no avail; the need to drink was more than just a simple desire –it was a deeply rooted, searing call, and the more he thought about water the more his body worked itself up with want.

With a soft sigh, he tried moving his body, and much to his surprise, it complied to his will. He felt heavy, and lethargic, but he could move, and that filled him with relief. He wriggled the fingers of his hands, then his toes, a surge of reassurance when he felt all of them respond, and slowly, one inch at a time, he forced his body up until he shifted to a sitting position.

The strain caused a sudden pain to flare up from his side, momentarily taking his breath away as a strangled moan was ripped out from his lips. "Hnnng–"

Time ticked on in the back of his mind, signing every second passing by as he shook, mouth open wide and lungs constricting, until the pain receded enough for him to breathe again.

He gasped and air filled his lungs again, and that hurt, too, and his side pulsated with pain, but Dave refused to give in to it, keeping himself up; if he let his body slide back down, he was afraid he wouldn't have the energy to get up again.

To try and keep his attention away from the pain, he slid his right hand over the surface he had been resting on. It was smooth but coarse, a bit like the inside of a coat, and under that he could feel something bumpy and hard, like wood.

It was a bed, then. Dave swallowed again, and tried to calm down. A part of him knew that if he'd been placed on a bed to rest, that meant he was in no immediate danger, but…

As his muscles relaxed, pain assaulted him again, forcing its way through him. Instead of fighting it, Dave let it wash over him, gritting his teeth. Bro had taught him to accept the pain without wasting energy, and slowly he reigned control of himself, fighting his instinct to tense up again.

Slowly, one-two-three seconds ticking away, the pain receded.

Ok. He could work with this.

As soon as the ache dulled into a soft throbbing the thirst resurfaced, twice as strong, and Dave instinctively reached to the side with his arm, tentatively searching the empty space around him for a bedside table.

His fingers hit something, and he recoiled back in surprise, then moved forth, feeling sweat roll down his back. He was cold, and confused, but he still continued exploring the world at his reach.

The surface next to the bed was empty.

Disappointment hit him in the chest, and he gasped, tilting his head down. His senses were consumed with thirst, and he debated with himself whether to try standing or not, despite the pain, when a sudden noise coming from somewhere startled him out of his thoughts.

"Holy sh–" a sudden intake of breath. "You're awake!"

Dave tensed up again, his head snapping to the source of the voice, twisting in bed to present his front to the enemy.

Doing that sent another flare of pain through his body, this time stronger, and Dave gasped out, choking and slumping forwards, body arching back up in a vain attempt to stop the burning pain.

"Oh, fu… uh, calm down kid, no need to get all fired up," footsteps coming close, then a hand was pressed against his back, and another holding his shoulder, and Dave felt them slowly push him down.

He tried to twist away from the hold, but the hands were steady and didn't allow him to move. With his back again on the thin mattress, Dave felt the last of his energy drain away and slumped down, and the movement chased the pain away, clearing his mind.

"There, keep calm, ok? You ought to stay still, with that wound it's a miracle you're already awake, let alone move, ok?" there was a humming undertone to the words, a soft sound that wormed its way through Dave's mind, soothing him slightly.

All the while, he felt one hand press on his forehead, and another rub at the skin of his arm in what might have been a calming way.

Slowly, more due to his fatigue than his willingness to comply, Dave gave up and went boneless.

"There," seemingly satisfied with his compliance, the hands retreated. "Better stay down, not sure if the stitches hold yet, ya get me? We don't want you to rip your side open after all the work we've been doing to close you up. Shi– that was one whole crazy blood loss, I tell you. Don't even know how you got it, but you're lucky we were around–"

Dave, unable to concentrate enough on the person speaking to catch what they were saying, swallowed and tried to talk, his imperative still focused on getting something to drink.

"W…" his voice was barely a whisper, and he inwardly cursed at himself. "Water…?"

For a moment he thought he hadn't managed to be loud enough for the other to hear, but then he felt a hand hold his head up gently, and something was pressed against his lips.

"Drink up, here, don't bother talking for now. You're safe".

The voice continued talking, but Dave had stopped trying to listen as water –cool, delicious water– poured out of the cup and into his mouth.

As he swallowed the first sip, he could feel the liquid trickle inside his throat then down, sending a pleasant chill through his body.

Fuck, yes.

He tried to get a deeper mouthful, making a pathetic sound in his throat that would have embarrassed him if he'd given a fuck about it, but the hand holding the cup refused to give him more than a trickle at time, no matter how he stretched his neck forwards.

"Easy there I said, you don't want to be coughing up," the voice stated.

Dave sighed, part of him uncaring, but the reminder of the pain from his side calmed him down. It wasn't as satisfying as drinking the full cup in one go, but he didn't care as long as the water continued coming.

After a long silence, broken solely by Dave's gulping sounds and heavy breathing, the cup was removed from his lips, and the person –a troll, this was surely a troll, because no human could produce that kind of sounds with a larynx– gently lowered his head back down.

He muttered a soft thank you, his throat hurting less now, but he didn't even hear a reply, because he fell asleep the moment his head touched the mattress.

…–…–…

Voices speaking were what woke Dave up again, rousing him from dreamless sleep.

The ticking noise at the back of his brain, that had restlessly counted seconds even while he had been unconscious breathed a number through Dave's brain, but he was still too tired to make any sense of it.

He parted his lips, slowly extending his conscience to his body. Again, he wriggled all his fingers and again he felt a wash of relief when he found them all responding to him.

He was thirsty again, but less than before, and he controlled the impulse this time, focusing his mind to his surroundings and his own body.

With tentative prodding, he tested the confines of his mattress, mind a bit clearer than before, fingers meeting the wooden edges of the bed and the rough seams of the 'mattress'. Slowly, he lifted his arm to his face.

There was a soft cloth covering his eyes, which he somehow recalled being there before, but his memories of waking up earlier were too fuzzy. He remembered a voice, and water, but that was it.

He moved his hand down to his neck, then to his chest. He was uncovered, but there was soft cloth tied around his waist and even lower, disappearing at the hem of his boxers. Carefully avoiding where he knew was a wound, he inspected the skin around it with feathery touches.

He couldn't move lower to check on his legs, and he didn't want to risk pulling the muscles of his hip, so he simply wriggled his toes again, trying to take comfort in the fact that he could at least feel them.

Abandoning his arm back on the mattress, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him, Dave pondered over his situation idly.

Belatedly, he realised he couldn't hear the voices speak anymore, and froze.

"Wh–" his voice failed him and he swallowed thickly, trying to clear his throat. "Where are… you?"

There was some shuffling, then footsteps. They were loud enough for him to hear even in his weakened state, and he wondered if the person was being loud on purpose or not.

"You're awake again, kid," the same person as before, and Dave relaxed a bit at the familiar undertone, the soft humming making him take a deep breath, despite the tightness of his chest. "Thirsty?"

"Yeah," he muttered, hoarse, and welcomed with gratitude as he was offered some more water to drink. "Thank you," he breathed after a couple mouthfuls.

He felt weak and exposed, but he was glad to be still alive.

"Where… where am I?"

There was a short pause, then the other person made a soft whistling noise. "The new universe," was the tentative answer. "You were lucky you fell close to my hive, sh… it's crazy, if he hadn't found you I am sure… uh, well, never mind that now. More water?"

Although he was still thirsty, Dave shook his head. He needed to know more. "Where… where are… Jade? John? … Karkat?"

Some more shifting, and a soft, buzzing sound that Dave vaguely recognised, though he didn't know what it meant.

Still, the use of alien terms (he did say hive, did he) and the sounds that no human throat could produce were proof enough that his interlocutor was actually a troll.

"Uh, see, they are not here. Fu… it's just us, ok? But it will be fine. Uuuh… You focus on resting, and telling me what happened, ok? We've been dying to know, ever since we found ourselves thrown down there! Can you believe it? One moment dead and celebrating his death, and then woo, just like that the bubbles burst open and we're engulfed with light! I haven't been in such a hype since my days with the Lost Weeaboos, sh… those were the days, I miss that sometimes…"

Dave swallowed again, lips set in a thin line. Most of what the unknown troll was saying just went flying over his head, but one thing stuck to his mind anyway.

His friends were not there.

What did that mean? Were they gone somewhere? When would they come back? Weren't they supposed to land all in the same place once through the portal? How long had he been asleep?

Time ticking in the back of his mind resurfaced again, and whispered a six-digit number to him. He didn't need to do the math, because his brain registered it and turned it into a smaller date.

Three days.

Three days, eight hours and forty-seven seconds.

Fuck.

His mind a bit more focused, he tilted his head towards his interlocutor, though he couldn't see him, and that reminded him… "My eyes…?"

"Ah, sh… yes, you're right. Wait, they're fine, calm down ok?" he heard the troll stand up and move through the room, and he heard a rustling sound.

Then he moved back to Dave's side, and hands gently pressed against his forehead as the bandages covering his eyes were slowly taken away.

"Had to cover them, we found your cool shades all broken, and you reacted badly to the light… don't think you were really conscious, but your eyes opened and you… dam… uh, you sounded like you were in pain. Here, try peeking, the window is closed so it shouldn't hurt".

The pressure against his eyes was removed, but Dave remained frozen with his eyes close, taking in what the nameless, faceless troll had just said.

His shades… broken?

"Hey, you fine over there? You look sick," a finger prodded his forehead, and Dave's eyes fluttered open in response. He had to wince, because even in the darkened room, his eyes were still a bit sensitive after sleeping so long.

His sight adjusted slowly, and he blinked a few stray tears away, searching in the room the troll he'd been speaking with until then.

The first thing he saw were his horns.

They were long and curved upwards at the sids of his head, much like a bull's, and different from all the horns belonging to the trolls he'd known so far. He had unruly hair both red and black, and white sticks covered up the top half of his shirt.

There was something familiar in him, something that ticked the back of Dave's brain, but he didn't know what.

"Hey, see? No need to worry, uh, your eyes are perfectly ok!" the troll's mouth tightened in a strained smile, and Dave sighed, looking away.

"Dave," he muttered after a moment to collect his thoughts. "You said you found me. Thanks".

"Ah, dude, it's nothing!" a short, clipped laugh that didn't last long, and Dave dared another glance at the troll. "Anyone would have done it, really! No big deal, nothing heroic or sh… like that!" the smile turned a bit less strained. "Ah, I'm Rufioh," he added, pointing to himself.

Dave frowned a bit. The only troll with similar horns he'd seen in the dreambubbles was Tavros, so that meant…

"You're the Beforus troll," he croaked out.

The troll –Rufioh… the name also tickled Dave's mind, but in a different way– nodded, his horns swaying in the air.

"Beforan, uh, if you don't mind," he replied. "You're one of the humans who defeated the enemy. Holy da… that fight was spectacular, makes me kind of feel sad for missing out, you dig? But I never did get to go God Tier, so I would have been pretty useless, haha, ha…" again, he cleared his throat. "Was that how you got hurt?"

Dave licked his lips and shook his head slowly. "No. After the battle," he muttered. "Unexpected dog coming back to bite my leg".

He was growing drowsy again, and he cursed silently at his lack of energy. He had barely moved, and his body was already tired as fuck.

"Hey, you need rest, don't let me keep you up dude, that's not fine, not with that kind of wound. Just sleep it off, it will take a while before you can get up so…" Rufioh shrugged, his horns bobbing slightly. "There isn't much to do around here, so leave it to me, ok?"

With a last blink, Dave's eyes refused to open again, though he didn't fall asleep instantly, merely resting and breathing, languidly thinking about the situation he was in.

Things didn't quite feel right –why was this troll sitting around to help him? Where was… everybody? John, Rose, Jade… even Dirk…

Karkat…

Dave's heart constricted as Karkat's face, filled with shock, flickered through his mind. He'd looked pained, reaching out towards him, but Dave…

He exhaled slowly, trying to ignore the knot in his chest.

"You could have entered the room, you know, he doesn't bite," Rufioh's voice, a bit muffled, reached Dave's brain, and he focused on the words.

Who was he talking to…?

His mysterious interlocutor didn't reply, and Rufioh emitted a low, clicking sound.

"Well, he got hurt before passing over, and he couldn't have been in the woods for longer than a couple hours," Rufioh continued talking, as if the silence didn't bother him. his voice was rumbling and pleasing, and Dave sighed softly, relaxing some more. "Man, we should go out and get some food, he might be up to eat something next time he wakes! What do you say, you with me?"

Dave wasn't expecting a reply, so when a curt, hissy voice replied, he was almost startled back into complete awareness.

"Showws wwhat you knoww of wwounds," the other person replied with a sniff. Dave's mind, already losing his fight with sleep, vaguely wondered about that weird accent. "You can't leavve 'im alone Ruf, so Imma goin' to stay here wwhile you go a hunt".

This time it was Rufioh's turn to be silent, and Dave felt a small seed of annoyance hum through him. He could take care of himself, he didn't need to be babied… but it was hard to find something to say when his wounded side was keeping him bedridden.

"If you're sure, I mean, you were the one who did all that dam… amazing job, there, pal, wouldn't have been able to do it in your place, blood is sort of…" he made a short, clipped noise that sounded a bit like a shudder. "Well, what'd ya say, I'll be off! Always feels nice to get your wings open for a flight, reminds me of home!"

The other voice muttered something too low for Dave to hear, and then they both walked away, leaving Dave alone in the room.

Still teetering on the brink of sleep, Dave tried to focus on something, to understand what felt so wrong in the situation, but there was no fighting it anymore; without him noticing, his thoughts turned jumbled, less coherent, and seconds later he was once again deeply asleep.


	3. Chapter 02

**SOY:** update :3 please enjoy!

…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: Mature for themes and later content.

**Warnings:** none.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own HomeStuck.

…–…–…–…–…–…

**Higher than Hope**

**Chapter 02**

The next time Dave woke up, he felt a bit better.

Not much time had passed, in reality –it felt around a couple hours, his inner clock said– but his body didn't feel like lead anymore.

Not tired enough to go back to sleep, Dave returned to his new routine of moving every part of his body to see if they were still there, and once satisfied with that, he moved to the next problem, one he could access without moving.

Trying to see if it was day or night outside the dimly lit room, Dave took a deep breath and concentrated on his inner clock, expanding his awareness enough that he could feel the power of time unravel under his fingers.

It was pleasing to know he still had some remains from the game, though puzzling –weren't they supposed to return to normalcy after winning?

This train of thoughts was abandoned when he felt a dissonance in the beat of time, enough to make him cringe and to disrupt his concentration. Time slipped from his fingers and returned to its slumbering feeling from before, leaving him shivering.

He had trained himself to reach for it even under strain, because during the fight with LE he'd had to be as fast as he could, but this difference was unexpected.

Time ticked into the back of his head, and Dave latched to it again, this time approaching it slowly, paying attention to the familiar, musical beat.

There was a discordance between the time ticking in his head and the one he'd been used to until then –small, fractions of seconds piling up, but it was there, and it was enough to make Dave's head hurt.

Not knowing how to interpret that, Dave released his grip on time and relaxed, trying to focus on something else, opening his eyes to look at the room he was in.

The troll called Rufioh was still gone, or at least hadn't returned to his room yet, and he was sure the other troll wouldn't want to come in if he knew Dave was awake, so for the present time, he was alone with his thoughts.

Concentrating on things was hard, and his thoughts easily scattered around, his brain as lethargic as his body, and Dave idly wondered if it was because of the blood loss that he couldn't string a coherent line of thought.

The room was mostly bare; other than the bed he was using, there was just a table on the opposite wall, the small bedside table, now with a cup of water if he ever needed it, and that was it.

The window was covered with something, but the light wasn't enough for him to see what it was; he didn't feel cold, so the heating worked.

Another quick scan of the room told him that there was no heater in there, so it meant the room was heated through some other means; the thought made Dave look up, eyes looking from one side of the ceiling to the other in search of a dangling lamp or a source of light.

There was none.

No lamps anywhere else in the room, either.

Huh. Wasn't that… weird?

The door was more like an opening in the wall, with one of those curtains of bamboo sticks acting as a barrier between the room and the world outside, and Dave sighed, relaxing on the bed again.

There was nothing else to do but he wasn't tired, so instead of giving in to boredom and falling asleep again, Dave closed his eyes and concentrated on counting time.

He started mentally piling up seconds, one after the other. It was a relaxing, monotonous task, but even then he kept messing up, the way time ticked different from what Dave's perception of seconds was.

One, two, three… four five, six, seven… eight…

It kept messing up, and Dave quickly grew annoyed at himself. Wasn't he supposed to be the Time Hero? Why then…

The bamboo curtain rustled softly as someone peeked into the room, and Dave froze, concentration disrupted as he stilled on the bed. He hadn't heard the sound of footsteps, too busy focusing on time.

Someone entered the room.

Eyes fluttering open again, Dave peered at the newcomer.

And stared.

It was another troll, as he'd thought, but different from Rufioh.

The angle didn't allow Dave to check if he was tall or not, but his horns were smaller and wave-shaped, placed on top of his head and poking out from perfectly slicked black hair. There was a streak of a lighter colour in the middle, but with the current light he couldn't say which colour it was –could easily be blue, violet or brown.

Also, and Dave blinked in surprise when he noticed, instead of normal, pointed ears like all the other trolls he'd met before, this one had fins sprouting from the sides of his face. As Dave was observing them, they fluttered slightly.

Huh. Curious.

The troll was wearing the usual black shirt with a symbol on it, two wavy lines one on top of the other. It looked a bit like a stylization of the sea, or something.

When the unknown troll turned fully towards him, Dave closed his eyes again, not wanting him to realise he was awake; he had a feeling that the troll would leave again if he did, and Dave was actually grateful for the impromptu visit breaking the monotony of his counting time.

He felt the troll shuffle closer, and the hair of his arms stood up, part of him feeling extremely vulnerable and wanting to move and protect himself, even though he knew there was nothing to worry about.

Instincts were hard to overcome.

Still, he managed not to move.

For a few long seconds –one, two, three… dissonance, four– nothing moved. This close, Dave could hear the troll breathing, deep and controlled. Neither moved, and he wondered what the troll was looking at.

Then something cool touched his forehead, and Dave was startled out of his self-imposed immobility, his eyes snapping open instantly as he tensed.

"Fuck–" the troll's hand darted away from his forehead as if burned, and Dave felt him move away from the bed, as if expecting him to attack.

Dave didn't care much about that, because he was too busy fending off a wave of dizziness, groaning and digging his hands into the bed in a vain attempt to keep the world from spinning.

"Shit, you ok?"

The troll stepped forwards, hovering above him but not daring to touch him again, and Dave exhaled slowly, gritting his teeth.

"N-not sure," he replied honestly. "You… surprised me".

"No shit, you surprised me too! Wweren't you sleepin'?" the defensive tone would have been amusing if Dave had been feeling well enough for that.

"Nope," he replied.

After another tense inhale, Dave relaxed again, and opened his eyes to get a closer look at the troll. The guy was wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses, and his mouth was set in a small, pouty grimace.

"You shouldn't be awwake," the troll continued, almost as if Dave had done him great offense by not being sleeping. "You need ta rest".

"Can't sleep all the fucking time, man," he replied, casting a casual glance towards the water cup and wondering if he could get to that without feeling dizzy again. He swallowed.

The troll caught the glance and hesitated, then moved to the other side of the bed, grabbed the cup roughly and shoved it in front of Dave's face.

"Here, havve at it," he stated.

Dave's eyes flicked from his face to the cup, then grabbed it with a vaguely unsteady hand and twisted his neck up, sipping the liquid. He was grateful he could do that on his own, because getting babied wasn't cool by any stretch of imagination.

"Thanks," he said when he felt the thirst subside.

The troll stole the cup again and put it back on the table, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"No biggie," was the muttered reply. "Need anythin' else?"

Dave thought about it, then shook his head. "Nah, chill as I could be," he stated.

"Chill as anyone could be wwith havvin' a ten-inches wwound in your side," the troll grunted, moving once again on the other side of the bed, leaning forwards to inspect the bandages. "Don't you fuckin dare ta mess up my wwork," he added.

It felt more like a whine than a threat, and Dave had no intention to reopen his wound anyway, so he shrugged.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The troll froze and glared down at him, then his eyes flicked from one side of the room to the other, as if considering whether to run or not. After a few seconds, his shoulders dropped in defeat.

"Eridan," he replied. "The fuckin' troll wwho savved your alien ass".

"I thought… that was Rufioh," Dave frowned and looked at the door, then back at the troll… Eridan.

"I found you," Eridan looked a mix of proud and annoyed, for reasons Dave couldn't understand. He didn't even want to try. "An' I stitched you up".

Dave glanced down at his bandaged side, and shivered; he was glad he hadn't been awake for that, the only time Bro had cut him up deep enough to need the stitched had been a painful moment, indeed.

"Uh. Thank you, then," he swallowed, fingers tapping on the bed's surface as a way to dispel the awkward feeling.

Something passed on the troll's face, but Dave couldn't read it, so he let it go.

"Yeah, wwhatevver," he mumbled, turning around to leave, then stopping and moving back to look at him.

Dave was amused by the way the troll was standing, his back straight and muscles stiff, and part of that amusement was probably visible because Eridan hunched forwards a bit and looked away.

Hmm, the guy was weird.

"Uh, Rufioh's gone ta get somethin to eat," he scratched his chin absently, and Dave hummed. "Just don't movve around," he said.

He hesitated again, and Dave looked up at him, waiting. When the troll didn't speak, choosing to look around the room instead, he sighed.

"Hey, I'm not going to break if you want to ask something, ok?" his words startled Eridan out of his trance, and the troll's eyes zoomed on him. "I promise I don't bite," he added, referencing Rufioh's words from before.

Eridan stiffened, eyeing him suspiciously. "You wwon, right," he grunted out after another couple seconds of silence.

"Yeah," Dave nodded. "Didn't the others tell you already?"

Eridan's stiff posture seemed to become even stiffer, and Dave frowned. "What," he asked, wishing he could stand.

He swallowed, his mouth dry again, and turned his attention to the water again, reaching out slowly to grab the cup and drink from it.

"There are no others".

It was just a mumble, but it made Dave freeze.

His fingers tightened around the cup, and some of the water sloshed out, dripping on his hand and down on the bed; to avoid wasting more water, Dave cautiously placed down the cup again, and turned his eyes to Eridan.

"What," he asked again, his voice monotone out of shock.

"Nobody's here," there was a challenging look in Eridan's eyes, and Dave felt a sudden vertigo, followed by a cold sensation growing inside his stomach. "Just you, me an' Ruf".

Licking his lips, Dave clenched his hands into fists to hide the trembling.

"Where… where are the others?" Dave's eyes fluttered around the room and its bareness, then back to the troll, searching for an hint that would explain what was going on. "What do you mean there's just us?"

Eridan shrugged evasively. "Wwe'vve been here for round a perigee, n' you wwere the only one wwe'vve seen".

The cold sensation spread through him, and Dave instantly closed his eyes, fending off the abrupt wave of panic and blocking it under control. Then, he opened his eyes again, pinning Eridan with a glare.

"What is this place?" he asked, urgent. "Aren't we in the new universe?"

Eridan had backed away slightly under Dave's glare, but he seemed to gain confidence again and nodded. "Yes," he replied simply. "Wwe are".

"Then why–"

"Don't ask, I havve no idea, nor does Ruf," Eridan brushed one hand through his hair, chewing on his lower lip. "You should rest, ain't goin ta get any better if you fret, wwon't make em pop up at your call".

Of course, Dave knew that –his side was hurting already because his muscles were all tense, but he couldn't just relax. Of all the things he'd expected when waking up, finding out he was alone with no idea where his friends were was not one of them.

"Where are we?" he asked, his tone urgent, demanding.

Eridan glared at him, and shrugged. "Somewwhere on the planet, in a forest or somethin', not sure. Ruf built this place before I wwas evven around".

The cold was spreading quickly, and Dave swallowed again, staring at the troll with wide eyes. "You… where did you appear?"

"Ah, don't mistake me, I popped 'round here, just not together wwith Ruf," Eridan explained, his tone a bit impatient. "Maybe a couple wweeks ago, found the hivve here and decided ta stay".

Fuck.

"Wwe wweren't expectin' ta find someone because Ruf searched a lot wwithout findin' no one before I got here, an' wwhen wwe found you, you wwere also hurt," the troll continued, apparently not noticing Dave paling.

Fuck.

Holy shitty burning fuck.

Fingers gripping the edge of the bed tightly, Dave gritted his teeth and tried to hoist himself up into a sitting position. Pain flared up instantly as he moved, and Eridan let out a distressed sound, trying to get closer. Dave glared at him, pupils wide and an intense, angered expression, and it made the troll back away with a weird throat chirrup.

Panting and wheezing, Dave managed to shift up enough that he could slip one hand under his side and help himself, but the pain ripping from his side made him see white, and he almost crumpled back down, tears of exertion filling his eyes.

Fuck.

"Wwhat the actual fuck!" Eridan, recovered from the glare, moved to his side and pushed his shoulders, making a weird clicking sound, and Dave went down instantly, not enough energy to fight back.

He gasped and flailed a bit, nails digging into something soft, and held onto it as the pain burned through him, making it hard to focus on anything except his heart racing in his chest, every beat bringing a new twinge.

Slowly, painstakingly slow, the pain dulled again, though this time it didn't go away, and Dave slumped fully on the bed. His ears stopped ringing, and sounds started pouring in again; the first was a low, pathetic noise that sounded like someone whining, and belatedly Dave realised that he was the one making that noise.

With a gasp, he clamped his lips shut and breathed loudly through his nose, nostrils flaring and eyes wide.

Fuck.

Goddamn it.

"Hey, you ok?" a blurred face appeared in Dave's drastically reduced sight, and he swallowed down bile as he shook his head. "Of course you're not ok, fuck, wwhat the hell got into you?"

Dave slowly relaxed, his fingers growing lax, and he felt Eridan move away, letting go of his shoulders.

He was still having a hard time breathing, panic gnawing at his insides, brain trying to think about what went wrong, but slipping through thoughts without being able to stick to one.

"Open that fuckin' mouth and breathe," the troll ordered, and Dave swallowed, realising his lips were still pressed shut.

He parted his lips and sucked air in, drawing quick, shuddery gasps.

He had no idea where everybody else was except two trolls he didn't even know, and had no idea if Jade and Karkat had even made it through… no, obviously they were safe, Bec Noir had returned to his original form before Dave had fallen through, so…

Why were they not together in the same place? What had happened? Did they screw up on the new universe? They weren't even sure what kind of world they had created in the first place, what the Game had seen fit to give them.

What if everybody was safely together except for Dave?

What if they were in danger, though?

Unable to stand still anymore, forgetting about his wound, Dave tried to move, and again Eridan pushed him down, fiercely.

Dave let out a pained grunt.

"I can't stay here," he said, and his voice was more of a whine than a statement. "What if they need me?"

"Yes, because you wwould be so helpful right noww," Eridan scoffed, poking his bandages a few inches above the wound, lifting one eyebrow when Dave let out a soft whimper. "There are things out there that wwould eat ya, an' I wwon't let you wwaste all my wwork because you're a suicidal alien ass".

Dave was still shivering, panting and frantic, but he didn't try moving anymore.

This time, when the troll touched his forehead, he didn't even flinch. Eridan's fingers were clammy, but cool, and sort of good against his skin.

"Wwhat's your normal temperature?" Eridan asked.

Dave mumbled a reply, and Eridan hissed, his fins fluttering again. "I havve no idea wwhat that means," he scoffed. "But you might be fevverish, so don't movve till I come back, did ya hear me?"

Dave grunted and nodded, abandoned against the mattress, and Eridan turned around and strutted out of the room. Dave watched him go with hazy eyes, and then he was alone again.

Silence enveloped him all of sudden, and with it, all of his thoughts crashing through him.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

He was alone in the new universe, with no idea where the others were, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt like there was a gaping hole in his chest, growing and eating him alive.

Where was Karkat? John? Rose?

Were they ok?

Dave's hand slowly curled into a fist around the thin mattress, clenching it until his knuckles turned white.

The new world was probably as big as old Earth, maybe more, and if they were all scattered around, how long would it take to find each other again?

How long would he have to stay still and recover before being able to walk again and go find them?

It was getting hard to breathe, so Dave opened his mouth wide and forced himself to take deep, shuddery gasps, his heart thrumming in his temples.

He felt sick. His eyes were burning and his side hurt, and he was having a hard time calming down. The tips of his fingers tingled and ached, and he had to stop himself from making more embarrassing, pathetic sounds.

What if he hadn't appeared close to Rufioh and Eridan's makeshift house? Would he have died? Could he even die and be reborn in this universe, or did he get his powers but not the other perks of being a godtier?

All the thinking was making his brain feel like sludge.

Dave lifted his fist and slammed it down against the bed, but the motion vibrated through his body and his side flared up in pain again; he cursed loudly, biting down on his lip harshly to stop the sounds of pain.

A trail of sweat rolled down his nose, and he could feel it on his back, too, sticky and cool.

He hated this.

He hated the fact that he got hurt, and not even because of LE, but because of _Bec_ fucking _Noir_. He hated that he'd tumbled into the new universe and got lost, and he hated not knowing anything, and being weak and dependant on those two trolls.

And feeling shitty.

Fuck.

He couldn't even curl up on himself, close his eyes and pretend to be on the meteor again, or even back home, because every time he moved, pain racked through him, reminding him where he really was.

Fuck.

After everything he'd gone through, the feeling of being lost was the worse.

He wanted to see Karkat. He wanted to see Rose, and Jade, and John, and Dirk, and everybody.

Dave blinked, trying to focus on the ceiling, and took a shaky breath, feeling horrid and lonely. He was usually good at holding up under stress, but now he could barely breathe right without crumbling.

He brought one hand to his forehead, testing it. His hand was warm, but his forehead was warmer, and the contact was almost pleasant. And his throat was parched again.

Ah. Shit. The troll –Eridan– was right. He was feverish.

Taking some shallow breaths to calm himself down, Dave tried to steer his thoughts away from his friends; it wouldn't do to let the gloomy mood settle in. He needed to rest and wait for the wound to heal, and then he could go and search for the others.

He had no idea why the two trolls hadn't moved to find more of their groups, but as soon as he was healed enough, he would leave.

He wanted to find everybody, especially Karkat. And then…

Fuck, he'd almost died. Maybe he'd been a coward for not telling him before, though he wasn't even sure they'd get to live past the battle against LE, but now… now if he ever found the troll again, he would definitely tell him.

Shit.

Instinctively he tried to curl up on his side, his body moving on its own, but renounced the moment his side gave a warning throb. He felt sick. Everything was hurting and he missed his friends.

He missed Bro.

The feeling was so sudden Dave was left feeling like he'd been punched in the guts.

He was a fucking Hero of Time. He'd sacrificed his life more than once knowing it would make them win. He'd fought against a green monster of doom. He'd thrown dead alternate selves into lava pits without breaking a sweat…

And now he just felt like crying.

It made him feel like he was a kid again, and the feeling only strengthened his need to see Bro. Childish as it might be, abrupt and unexpected, the need to let _him_ handle things was overwhelming.

Bro always knew how to make him feel better when he was sick. He'd sit by him and awkwardly pat his head, a plate of broth ready for when his stomach settled instead of swords and smuppets, and then there would be amazing stories about meteors and horses that Dave found to be the most awesome shit ever, even if they were clearly too silly to be true.

And afterwards, Dave would fall asleep, with Bro still there, making sure he would be ok… and things were fine.

Bro was dead.

He missed Bro. He missed his life. Even shitty Texas on shitty Earth.

Fuck.

Footsteps echoed in the unknown world outside his room, and though hazy, Dave's mind instantly zeroed on them, listening as Eridan made his way back to him.

Grunting, Dave tried to compose himself, not wanting to make himself more of a fool, forcing his lips into a thin line and making the muscles of his face go lax.

The troll's footsteps were heavy, and when he appeared on the door he was holding a huge bowl carved in wood, filled to the brim with water; as he walked towards the bed, the water sloshed out of the sides and fell on the floor and onto his fingers, but he didn't seem to notice.

"There," Eridan called out, placing the bowl onto the side table and watching Dave with an expectant stare. "Wwell?"

Slightly disorientated, Dave blinked at him. "Well what?" he asked, confused.

Eridan looked at him, then at the bowl, then back at him, and his lips pursed into another pout as he took out something from the bowl, squeezing it then holding it out for Dave to take; it was a rag –a clean one, probably had been a shirt once.

Comprehension flooded him, and Dave grabbed the cloth with a grateful look, pressing it on his own forehead. The contact with the drenched towel made him hiss, but it also felt heavenly against his heated skin, and he relaxed instantly.

"Thanks," he muttered.

With a deep, shuddery breath, he closed his eyes and let the cool towel soothe him.

He didn't have the strength to change the towel if it got warm, but he could enjoy the cool against his forehead for now.

For a while, the only sounds were Dave's own breathing and the soft, even thump of his heart; he distantly wondered if the troll had left, but he didn't care much, aside for the twinge of regret at being left alone when sick.

Things hardly made sense anymore, and the different pace, the forced stillness, dragged a sort of heaviness from him that hadn't been there previously; he felt sluggish and tired, but also felt bad for relaxing, his brain trying to mediate between his intense desire to move and his body's need to rest.

For a while, Dave slipped in and out of consciousness, only aware of the feeling of coolness on his forehead and how the rest of his body felt weirdly hot; a few times his thoughts strayed in weird tangents, morphing into muddled images and flashes of colours, and more than once he wondered idly if he'd have to change the towel soon, but it was still cool.

Clothes rustled close to his ears, and he groaned, but couldn't open his eyes.

As the knowledge that someone was actually replacing the wet towel for him finally wormed its way in his mind, Dave once again succumbed to sleep.

Eridan squirmed, grumbling under his breath, and observed cautiously as the human finally fell into a deeper sleep, his breathing slowing down and losing the shuddery quality.

His eyes flickered to the door, silently grovelling because Rufioh was still gone, then grunted and dunk the damp towel into the bowl again, squeezing out the excessive water before placing it again on Dave's forehead.

Despite his clear annoyance, his motions were careful, as not to wake up the ill human.

Eridan licked his lips, staring down at the knight of time, unsure about what to do, then turned around and stomped out of the room.


End file.
